<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Icarus by Follow_the_clues</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29027013">Icarus</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Follow_the_clues/pseuds/Follow_the_clues'>Follow_the_clues</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>On the Edge of the Cliff [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Broadchurch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Falling In Love, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Multi, Suicide Attempt, Swearing, icarus - Freeform, im bad at tags</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:40:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29027013</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Follow_the_clues/pseuds/Follow_the_clues</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>((Broadchurch AU, taking place after the events of Joe Miller’s Trial))</p><p>The Broadchurch cliff...<br/>Many horrible memories...<br/>But Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller now stand at the bottom and top of the cliff...</p><p>One is falling....<br/>The other is desperate to stop another fall...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller, Beth Latimer &amp; Ellie Miller, Ellie Miller &amp; Joe Miller (Broadchurch)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>On the Edge of the Cliff [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Morning in Broadchurch was usually marked with the sunrise over the cliffs.  It was a quiet morning, very few birds.  No one was out on the water this early and Alec Hardy was just barely awake.  Beside him, Ellie Miller was still asleep.  The soft sound of her breath was all he could hear…<br/>
That was until his phone rang.<br/>
“What?” The DI said as he answered the phone, fairly annoyed that anyone would call this early.<br/>
“Someone called in a body on the beach.”<br/>
Alec’s heart felt like it skipped a beat for a moment,<br/>
“We’ll be right over.” He said as he quickly hung up and sat up in bed, “Miller, we need to go.”<br/>
“Why?” The voice beside him groaned.<br/>
“You’ve been awake?”<br/>
“Of course I have!  You make a lot of noise when you get up to take your medicine.”<br/>
“Shut up and get dressed.” Alec Hardy said, already out of bed and brushing a comb through his hair as he looked through his drawers for a shirt.<br/>
“Of course Mr. Hardy.” Ellie Miller said, stretching on the edge of the bed before standing up and trudging to the bathroom to shower.<br/>
Alec began putting on his clothes and grabbed his pill counter and shoved it into his jacket pocket.  He then looked at the bathroom door, making out the silhouette of the DS reflected in the mirror.  He rolled his eyes,<br/>
“I’ll make you some coffee and it’s probably on me to go and get the kids to… uhh..”<br/>
“We’ll take them to Olly’s work, Maggie said that they don’t bother her too much!” Ellie called back.<br/>
“Can’t Tom take care of himself?  We could ta—”<br/>
“If you say take Fred to a crime scene I will throw this curling iron at you.”<br/>
Alec didn’t respond and he turned on the lights in Fred’s room,<br/>
“Come on bud, time to get up.  Your mum and I need to go to work.”<br/>
Fred was already up and he looked at Alec,<br/>
“Mummy has to go too?”<br/>
“Yes, she has to go too… you’re gonna go with your Cousin Olly.”<br/>
He pouted before Alec walked to his closet,<br/>
“Here you go, you have your clothes here so get dressed and I’ll make you breakfast.”<br/>
Alec then walked to Tom’s room, to find the boy still up with his headphones on.<br/>
“Tom, your mother and I have to go to work.  You can do whatever but we’re taking Fred to Olly’s.”<br/>
“What are you even doing here?” Tom said coldly, “You and my mom are actually having an affair!  I know you’ve been sleeping in her bed!  Their gonna notice!”<br/>
Alec shut the door and sighed.  He then began making Miller’s coffee and brewing himself a cup of tea, while making breakfast.<br/>
Ellie stood at the top of the stairs, holding Fred in her arms…<br/>
She knew that the moment Alec and her left the house together, rumors would start.  At least this time, the rumors weren’t lies.  Ellie wasn’t actually sleeping with the detective investigator…<br/>
Well she wasn’t shagging him anyways.  They shared a bed and that was it.  She had needed help with the kids, and Fred actually liked Alec…<br/>
And—<br/>
Ellie walked down the stairs, pushing any thoughts out of her head.  And there was Alec Hardy, moving through her kitchen as if he had lived there all his life.  She smiled slightly watching him,<br/>
“Well, you might as well sell your trailer that gets all flooded in the rain and move here.”<br/>
“I wouldn’t want to put you out like that Miller, besides I bet you could use a bed to yourself.”<br/>
“I could do without you stealing my blankets Mr. Hardy.”<br/>
“And I could do without your snoring Miller.” He said, handing her a cup of coffee after she set Fred down at the table.  She smiled and he poured his tea.  He handed her a plate of toast with jam for Fred before looking out the kitchen window…<br/>
He could see a figure comings towards the house..</p><p>No, not a figure.  A woman…</p><p>Beth Latimer was coming up to the house.  Alec looked at Ellie,<br/>
“Stay here, alright? I’ll handle this.”<br/>
Ellie nodded before Alec stepped out of the house, onto the back porch,<br/>
“Good morning Ms. Latimer.”<br/>
“Alec Hardy?! What the hell are you doing here?!”<br/>
“Waiting to leave, why are you asking?” Alec crossed his arms, obviously not in the mood for an argument.<br/>
“Mark said they found a body on the beach!  Why aren’t you there?!”<br/>
“Well, I just got the call and as it turns out, Miller has to make sure someone is there to watch her kids.”<br/>
Beth stared at him, realizing the DI was not about to let her any closer to the Miller house.<br/>
“What are you even doing at Ellie’s house?”<br/>
“As you know, I have difficulty driving because of my pacemaker, Miller and I drive together.”<br/>
“This early.”<br/>
“Kindly go away.  Go on a walk, just leave here so Miller and I can leave to go to the beach.”</p><p>“I wish it was her on the bottom of the cliff…”</p><p>Alec ignored her comment and went back inside the Miller house, trying to shake the obvious disgust from his face.  Ellie Miller looked at him,<br/>
“Looks like she had great things to say.”<br/>
“She’s still got a stick up a—“<br/>
“Alec Hardy!”<br/>
“Oh f*ck off Miller.”<br/>
Ellie threw her spoon at him and hit him straight in the chest.<br/>
“Ow.”<br/>
“No cussing around my son.”<br/>
He looked down at Fred, as the little boy smiled back up at him,<br/>
“Don’t copy that.”</p><p>Once the two approached the beach, Ellie Miller felt uneasy.<br/>
There had been two other times they had been called to a body on the beach…<br/>
The first being young Danny Latimer…<br/>
The other being Jack Marshall..<br/>
One murdered, one by suicide.  Both a result of Joe Miller.</p><p>Alec looked at the body and his heart dropped.<br/>
“Miller, go back to the car.”<br/>
“Wha—“<br/>
“Now Miller!”<br/>
Ellie looked the direction of the body and she then walked to it, slowly.</p><p>“Identified as Joe Miller.”</p><p>“I can see that with my own bloody eyes!” Alec snapped at the forensicist.<br/>
Ellie Miller swallowed the lump in her throat,<br/>
“It doesn’t matter… murder or suicide?”</p><p>“Suicide.”</p><p>“I’ll look at the top of the cliff,” Hardy said, “you stay down here Miller.” The DI then turned to the other officers, “Protect Miller because your lives depend on it.”</p><p> </p><p>Alec stood at the very top of the cliff.<br/>
Was this the path that Daniel Latimer tread when he wanted to throw himself from the cliffs?  Was this where Jack a Marshall stood when Joe Miller ruined his life?  And was this where Joe Miller stood as he contemplated life or death…<br/>
Alec imagined the fall…<br/>
He knew Broadchurch enough that he often pictured falling from this height.  He wondered if it hurt… or if you blacked out when you hit the ground?<br/>
Or did you lie in the sand?</p><p> </p><p>Ellie Miller looked at the body of her ex-husband, feeling no emotion except for dissatisfaction.  After everything he put her through, this was how it ended, with his body on the beach.  His body laying on the spot where he left Danny.  His body inches away from where Jack Marshall took his own life.  On this beach was where their marriage ended.  She looked up at the cliff towering over her, she imagined her ex-husband standing at the very top of the cliff.  She imagined him falling and she imagined his body hitting the ground.<br/>
Part of her wanted to imagine someone pushing him over the edge…<br/>
Maybe her?<br/>
Or Mark?</p><p>“Your husband deserved this.”<br/>
She saw the face of Beth staring back at her, mere feet away from where she stood.<br/>
“I’m going to have to ask that you step away from the body.”  Ellie replied, her voice cold.<br/>
“Or what?  You’ll beat me?  You and your new boyfriend will frame me?!  You belong at the bottom of this cliff too!”</p><p>“Ms. Latimer, step away from Miller, now.”</p><p>Alec was standing between them, his eyes soft as he looked at Ellie before they hardened in the direction of Beth.  Beth Latimer stepped back and walked away and Ellie’s eyes were full of angry tears.  Alec looked at her a for a moment…</p><p>He imagined her, finding him at the bottom of the cliff…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alec was silent as Ellie drove down the road back to town from the spot they had left their car.  The silence was strange, they hadn’t driven in silence for a long time…<br/>The radio was playing a song…</p><p>“Look who's digging their own grave, that is what they all say, you’ll drink yourself to death.  Look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it, and what will you have left?”</p><p>“Turn it off Miller.” <br/>Ellie ignored him before speaking,<br/>“Alec, I want you to move in.”<br/>“Miller… we’ve talked about this…”<br/>“I don’t feel safe… I don’t want to be alone anymore…”<br/>“Miller, I told you, this was a short arrangement…”<br/>“Alec…”</p><p>“Your hands protect the flames, from the wild winds around you…”</p><p>“Miller, I thought I said to turn off the radio.” He said, interrupting her.<br/>“You can walk if it bugs you so much.”<br/>There was a silence between Alec and Ellie before Alec broke the silence,<br/>“We can talk about this later Miller, alright?”<br/>“I’m holding you to that.”<br/>The car pulled into park at the station and Alec Hardy looked over at the DS,<br/>“I’ll go pick up Fred, you can go to your desk and just… you know… calm down.”<br/>“I don’t need to—”<br/>“We can channel your fury later, but right now, you need to take a breath.”<br/>She nodded before walking to the station and standing in the doorway, watching Alec disappear down the street.</p><p>DI Alec Hardy enjoyed the mid-morning sun in Broadchurch.  He enjoyed the feeling of the warming sun on his back as he walked down the streets, lined with the shops he knew all too well.  The gas station where he planned to go after picking up Fred for coffee and a breakfast sandwich to bring back to Miller as a peace offering so she wouldn’t stab him after their fight in the car.  He hadn’t really meant that.  He didn’t mean that he didn’t want to live with her.  Of course Alec had considered moving into Miller’s house.  It was almost like a fantasy he had dreamed about the previous night as he slept with Ellie Miller beside him.  He could picture himself helping her raise Fred and Tom.  He could picture him waking up next to his DS every morning.  He could even imagine sitting on the couch, bickering over a movie and whether or not it was worth watching, no matter what Olly said.  Every good dream Alec Hardy had, Miller was in it.  They were happy.</p><p>“What’s got you so smiley this morning?”<br/>Alec rolled his eyes as he stepped into the paper shop where Olly was manning the desk with Fred playing with his toys on the floor.<br/>“None of your damn business.” Alec replied, “now I’m taking Fred back to be with his mum.”<br/>Fred picked his head up when he heard the man’s voice,<br/>“Alec!” He said excitedly, practically ramming himself into the detective.<br/>“Hello to you too Fred, ready to go back with your mum?”<br/>“I’m hungry.”<br/>“I’ll get you some food on the way or else your mum is gonna kill me.”<br/>“So…” Olly said, turning back with the morning newspaper for Hardy, “I heard you stayed at my aunt’s last night.”<br/>“Drop it Olly.” The detective replied, dead-pan and obviously annoyed.<br/>“I’m just saying, remember the old rumor about Mr. Hardy and Ms. Miller having a passionate love affair?  I’m not saying it wasn’t true…”<br/>“Olly, don’t make me tell your aunt.”<br/>“No sir…”<br/>Alec smirked, <br/>“Come on Fred, say goodbye to your cousin because your mum is gonna kill him and hide the body.”<br/>“Bye bye!” Fred said happily, holding Alec’s hand as they walked out.</p><p>“Alright, pick a sweet while I get your mum some breakfast.”<br/>Fred looked at the glass bottom of the counter, looking at the sweet pastries that lined the inside as Alec picked two bacon sarnies from the warmer and poured a cup of coffee from the machine.</p><p> </p><p>Suffice to say, that peace offering was probably a good idea.  Ellie Miller’s morning had been, to put things lightly, an absolute sh*t show. How dare Beth Latmier come up to her at the beach and say that!  </p><p>“Or what?  You’ll beat me?  You and your new boyfriend will frame me?!  You belong at the bottom of this cliff too!”</p><p>Ellie clenched her fists.  She was angry.  She was angry that even though Joe, her *sshole ex-husband was gone, she’d still have to deal with everyone blaming her.  It wasn’t her bloody fault that Joe Miller was acquitted.  It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know he was a bloody pedophile that was taking advantage of Danny!  None of this was her fault!<br/>The sound of shattering glass startled most of the other workers as they saw DS Ellie Miller, with eyes full of angry tears, standing over a broken mug.  </p><p>Alec led Ellie to his office with Fred, who was still eating a bit of the sweet pastry he had picked.  <br/>“I brought you breakfast and coffee and they said that they’re cleaning up the glass.” Alec said, handing her the cup and sandwich.<br/>“I’m angry at you too.” Ellie Miller said, taking the cup and sitting on a chair.<br/>“Yeah, I know.” Alec said, leaning on his desk, “Listen Mil—uhhh Ellie, I can’t move in.  I don’t want to give the wrong idea that I—”<br/>“That you, the divorced DI dare sleep in the same bed as the disgraced DS?”<br/>“No!  I wouldn’t care about that!  Ellie Miller, every night I’ve had nightmares.  I’ve had nightmares about what I’ve seen the very darkest parts of humanity do… but you changed that!  Hell, every dream I’ve had since I started staying with you was good!  You’re at my side!  And I do—”<br/>Ellie’s looked stopped his train of thought,<br/>“Shut up!  Just shut up!”<br/>Alec looked down at her, “I… I’m sorry Miller.”<br/>“Just shut up!  You just said this makes you happy!  Why can’t you just say it?!”</p><p>“Living beyond your years, acting out all their fears, you feel it in your chest.  Your hands protect the flames, from the wild winds around you”</p><p>That night Alec Hardy left Ellie Miller alone in the bed.  He walked out onto the patio and walked through the grassy fields.  He ended up on the edge of the cliffs.  He stared out at the water, feeling his heart being pulled towards the edge of the cliffs.  He looked down at the beach below him and imagined the fall…</p><p>Would he black out?</p><p>Or would he just lay there in the sand…</p><p>Alec Hardy decided one thing that night.<br/>He belonged on the bottom of those cliffs…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So... this is kind of a shorter chapter.<br/>It deals a lot with Alec and Ellie’s relationship</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ellie woke up in tears to an empty bed.  <br/>“Alec!” She cried, “Alec!”<br/>When there was no answer, the woman buried her head in the pillows, cussing him out.   The man appeared in the doorway, <br/>“come here Ell.”<br/>Ellie practically jumped out of bed and ran to him, holding tightly to him, crying. <br/>“I’m here now, it’s gonna b—”<br/>“Why did you leave?!”<br/>“I… I had to take my medicine, I left it in my coat pocket.”<br/>Ellie Miller kept her arms around Alec Hardy.  The silence was only broken by her breath as it hitched.  He rubbed her back gently, still a little awkward about touching the DS.  Alec carefully led her back to the bed and laid down next to her.  Ellie looked at him and her breathing slowed.<br/>“I promise I won’t leave you alone again.” Alec said softly.  <br/>“You better not.”<br/>Ellie Miller fell back asleep and Alec Hardy still laid awake.  She was asleep next to him….</p><p> </p><p>“Standing on the cliff face<br/>Highest foe you'll ever grace<br/>It scares me half to death</p><p>Look out to the future<br/>But it tells you nothing<br/>So take another breath…”</p><p> </p><p>Alec took a deep breath as he put his arm around her.  The idea of touching her in any intimate way was…<br/>Well, it was like the deepest pit of desire.  She let out a soft groan and he closed his eyes, pulling her body close to his.  He never wanted to let her go, not now.  Ellie Miller was the last thing that kept him standing on that edge of the cliff, not following his pull to step into the air.  He thought about Tess, his ex-wife.  The moment he thought he was going to die, he thought that he would return to his ex-wife.  He wanted to be with her, or so he thought.  He hated her now…</p><p>“Go to sleep.” The DS groaned, “Go the f*ck to sleep.”<br/>“You’re still awake Miller?”<br/>“I can hear your stupid brain still working, go to sleep before I shove a sleeping pill down your throat.”<br/>Alec closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep…</p><p> </p><p>“Miller! Ellie Miller! Answer me!” Alec screamed, desperately looking around the forest.   He saw something, no, someone floating in the pond in front of him.  Alec dove into the cold water, his heart dropping when he realized who it was, “Miller!”  Her body was cold, her skin blue.  He held onto her body as he tried to swim to shore, his heart still pounding in his chest.  And the cold dark water pulled him in deeper.  And deeper.  He was holding tightly to her body, not wanting to let go—</p><p> </p><p>Ellie Miller was fairly rudely awoken by the flailing hand of the DI laying next to her.  It was a warm, sweaty hand.  He was gasping for breath, and in between gasps he was calling out for her.  The voice was so desperate, so scared.  She leaned closer to his jolting body, holding him closer to her.  His arm hit her side and she yelped in surprise,<br/>“Bloody hell Hardy!”<br/>Alec shot awake, startling her again and he hit his head on the headboard. <br/>“Wha—  Miller!”<br/>“Last time I try to calm you down from a nightmare.”<br/>“Miller!” He gasped, pulling her close, “Oh god, I thought… I thought you were dead!”<br/>“I— I was what?”<br/>“Dead Miller!  I found you, dead, in the pond.  Someone left you there!  I was so scared that I had lost you.”<br/>There was a moment of silence between them.  Alec’s tear-filled eyes were staring directly into hers.  The next moment, she pulled him close to her, realizing that he was scared.  After everything that had happened.  The trial, Sandbrook…. This was what he didn’t want to lose.  He so desperately wanted to stop crying, but he couldn’t.  He kept imagining finding Ellie’s body.  The coldness of her skin, the matts in her curly hair… the body left there by some unknown person.  Tears were starting to drip down his cheeks.  Ellie Miller had never seen the DI so vulnerable.  She pulled him close,<br/>“Well, I’m right here.  We both know I’m not going down without a fight.”<br/>“Miller but what if someo—”<br/>“You won’t be getting rid of me that easily.”<br/>Alec had never noticed their difference in stature, until now.  He looked down at her, leaning forward and planting a soft kiss at the top of her head.  <br/>“I’ll give you that one, do it again without my permission and I’ll make sure you’re the one in that pond.”<br/>Alec Hardy couldn’t help but chuckle, <br/>“Alright.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We need to talk, Alec.”<br/>Alec Hardy sighed before turning to face the shorter DS,<br/>“I assume we do, huh?”<br/>“You said you were happy here… but I understand if it’s too much to ask of you.”<br/>“Miller, I am happy here.  It feels… well more at home than that flooded apartment ever did bu—”<br/>“Listen, I know… I wouldn’t want to be stuck here either.” She said with a sigh, “My question is, why don’t you leave?”<br/>“Because… I… uhh.”<br/>Her eyes stared directly into his, almost as if she was trying to look into his soul.  Alec Hardy wished he could explain his hesitation.  He had never truly felt the way he felt right now around anyone, not even towards Tess at the best of their relationship.  Alec Hardy stared down back at Ellie Miller.<br/>There were subtle ways he could tell when the DS was upset.  The way her chest moved as it hitched with every breath.  The way the ends of her lips tightened to form the beginning of a scowl.  The way her eyes twitched just slightly, almost as if she could never contain the emotions boiling inside of her.  He stepped back before leaning forward, placing a hand softly on her shoulder,<br/>“Miller, look up at me, I do enjoy it here.  I just don’t want you to get dragged through the mud of everything that’s going to happen if I move in with you.”<br/>“I don’t care… I just want you.”<br/>Alec smiled softly down at her and he wrapped his arms around her gently,<br/>“You are the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time.”</p><p>Alec made two cups of tea as Ellie finished putting the last of the boxes inside the house.  <br/>“Alright, that’s the last of your mess.”<br/>She walked to the kitchen and carefully took two cups out of the cabinet,<br/>“We have the day to ourselves, Tom’s at school, Fred’s at preschool, so it’s just us.”<br/>He smiled, “Good, that’ll give us time to put my five suitcases in the closet.”<br/>“The next thing that we’re doing is getting you actual things someone needs to live.  Your fridge literally had milk, butter and a fruit.”<br/>“And?”<br/>“You’re skinny and grumpy, I am teaching you how to be a functioning life partner.”<br/>He rolled his eyes, but a chuckle escaped his lips.  <br/>“Aright Miller.”<br/>“One more thing…”<br/>“What?”<br/>“You and I go on a proper outing, just us.  This afternoon.”<br/>“Oh Miller, no, don’t make me do that.”<br/>She crossed her arms,<br/>“Why not?”<br/>“Because, people are stupid.”<br/>“Alec.”<br/>“Fine, fine.  One afternoon…”</p><p>Alec Hardy didn’t know what to expect when Ellie Miller came down the stairs… but he hadn’t expected his heart to race this fast.  She was standing in front of him with her hair pulled back, like usual, but she wasn’t wearing the clothes he usually saw her in.  She was wearing a dark blue sweater and a pair of jeans.  She smiled, noticing his cheeks turn a visible shade,<br/>“Do you like it?”<br/>“I… I do.” He said, nodding his head, “you… you look beautiful Miller.”<br/>She walked up beside him and looked at the light blue collared shirt that he was wearing,<br/>“You look no different than normal.”<br/>“I don’t see the need to dress up nicer.” He chuckled.<br/>The two walked through the field, following the path to where the cliffs were.  It was for the best that neither of them were ever seen in town together…<br/>Alec sat down on the top of the cliff, imagining for a single moment…</p><p>Falling. <br/>What happens when you fall?<br/>Would he black out?<br/>Or would he just lay there in the sand?</p><p>Ellie sat next to him, laying her head against the detective investigator’s chest,<br/>“It’s beautiful out here.”<br/>“It is…” he said softly.<br/>Alec looked down at her, there were subtle cues that she was trusting him.  Her hands were relaxed in her lap and her dark brown eyes were closed.  Her breathing was soft and steady as she nuzzled him gently.  He kissed the top of her head and she looked up.  Alec laid back on the grass and Ellie laid on top of his chest.  His eyes couldn’t leave the DS’s gaze…<br/>Both of them were now blind to their surroundings, deaf to the waves crashing against the shore below them.  </p><p>Alec Hardy only saw Ellie Miller.</p><p>Ellie Miller only saw Alec Hardy.</p><p>Ellie kissed his lips without any caution.  She was in control and Alec gave in….</p><p> </p><p>Alec woke up that night, running his hand through his hair and he turned his head to look at the figure laying beside him.  <br/>“I… I’m sorry Miller…”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>